'File 2/15 Iraq coup d'etat and political situation in Iraq' [‎71r] (139/414)

Insisted eat searehlB* the Chanoery talldlnge. 1
under the strongest protest end ealaed the opportunity to pre
fer the restoration of dome a tie else trie our rent which h*d in
the meanwhllo been completely cut off, thereby endangering the
health of the large number of people living in the house iQ a
chancery. (The danger to health waa aerioua because tne clearing
of the aaptle tank which receive* ell the sewage of the vmbaaay,
la entirely dependent on an eleetrically operated pump *) Uf
representations were aucceaeful and tha supply of current wee
not again interrupted.
23 . Later in the day a further demand ms sent to me to
allow renreeentatlwea of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and ef tas ^
Ministry of Defence to search not only the chancery building, but
also every room in the Smbaeey house and satisfy themselves
there was no other apparatus in our possession. In spite of this
further flagrant infraction of diplomatic iawsunity from search,
I had no othar alternative hut to accept the demand under strong
protest* Another small transmitter set which was not in uae was
discovered, and with my consent removed*
24* On tha same day the Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent yet
another note stating that the flying of the British flag over
the gmbassy at a time when Britain was waging war on Iraq would
increase public excitement and, it was feared, provoke &
regrettable incident* The Ministry, therefore, asked that the flag
should not be flown* The position was not wholly free from doubt*
I was advised that it could not necessarily be claimed that foreign
diplomatic missions have a prescriptive right to fly taeir national
flag daily over the buildings which they occupy* The usual euatctt
was for missions te fly the flag only on their own national days
or on the national days of the countries of residence* In Bagdad
for some reason, possibly dating from Ugh aoraalssiom days* a
departure had betm nfmde from this custom and the mbaeey and all
Foreign Legations were In the habit of flying their flags daily
throughout the year* To depart from this custom was a grave step,
but I felt that in the special circumstances there might be acme
justification in the Iraqi Hovensiaent's contention that the flying
of the Union Jack in t e heart of the Capital at that momant was
provocative and would render more difficult the authorities' task
of protecting the Embassy from danger of a mob attack* 1 felt
also that there was every prospect that the authorities might
themselves incite such an attack or send In an armed party to
resnova tha flag themselves* 1 decided, therefore, unobtrusively
to remove the Union Jack from the flag-staff on the reef of the
Embassy, where it ordinarily flies, and to hoist it from a staff
in the grounds where it would not be visible outside*
23. Another incident which marked the day waa a request
mad# orally by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that the British
Managers of the Imperial Back of Iran and the western Bank, who
were both In tha Embassy, should be asked to hand over their keys
to the Iraqi authorities* The Mialatry stated that tha British
Manager of the Ottoman Bank (who had taken refuge in the American
Legation) had agreed to hand over the keys of his bank on
condition that tha Managers of the two other Banks also agreed to
do so* If the Managers refused to hand over their keys the
authorities would open the banks by fores* After consulting with
myself and the Adviser to the Ministry of the Interior, the two
managers